My Blog!: Amy Winehouse Autopsy Inconclusive

Monday, July 25, 2011

Amy Winehouse Autopsy Inconclusive

Further tests needed to determine cause of singer's death on Saturday.
By Gil Kaufman

Amy Winehouse
Photo: Rob Loud/ C3 Presents/ Front Row Center

It could be several more weeks before we find out what caused singer Amy Winehouse's death on Saturday at the age of 27. Police announced on Monday (July 25) that initial autopsy results were inconclusive and that additional toxicology tests were needed.

According to The Associated Press, those toxicology screens could take two to four weeks to complete. Winehouse was found dead in bed at her Camden, England, apartment on Saturday afternoon, and initial reports indicate that no drugs were found in the flat.

In 2008, Winehouse's father, Mitch, revealed that years of smoking and drug-taking had resulted in his daughter suffering from the early stages of the incurable pulmonary ailment emphysema, which had scarred her lungs. Since rising to fame in 2006, Winehouse had struggled with a number of health issues and been hospitalized on a number of occasions for various ailments.

Click for photos of Amy Winehouse's life and career.

She also struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, which resulted in Winehouse's notoriously spotty live performance record, cemented in June by the cancellation of a planned European comeback tour after a disastrous gig in Belgrade. (Read one MTV News staffer's account of an early Winehouse show in the Newsroom.)

The coroner has adjourned the inquest into the singer's death, which will allow Winehouse's family to plan her funeral, which could take place as early as Tuesday. The coroner previously said that police have found no suspicious circumstances surrounding the Back to Black crooner's death.

Winehouse's father, a cab driver-turned-lounge-singer, flew back to England on Sunday in the wake of his daughter's death and visited her Camden apartment on Monday morning. According to BBC News, he thanked her fans — who have gathered in a vigil outside the building — for their support. "I can't tell you what this means to us. It really is making this a lot easier for us," he told the gathered mourners. "Amy was about one thing and that was love. Her whole life was devoted to her family and her friends and to you guys as well."

The singer's mother, Janis, and brother, Alex, also visited the site to see the collection of flowers, cards and photos that Winehouse's admirers have left. On Sunday, the family released a statement in which they said, "Our family has been left bereft by the loss of Amy, a wonderful daughter, sister, niece. She leaves a gaping hole in our lives. We are coming together to remember her and we would appreciate some privacy and space at this terrible time."

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